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Char Siu

My family an I celebrated Chinese New Year in January with a group of friends. We had our activity with crafts, games, the history of the holiday, and of course some food. All I served that afternoon with friends over was scallion pancakes but for our family dinner I wanted to keep up with the theme. I also really wanted simple.

When I've eaten char siu at restaurants it has a very distinct taste that was very familiar and yet I couldn't place it at all. Turns out it's the cinnamon and anise in Chinese five spice. It plays really well with the pork but cinnamon I usually associate with sweet dishes and it didn't cross my mind. As soon as I saw the recipe though it was a "duh" moment. When I first made it last January I used chicken breasts since that is what I had in my freezer but this time I used the pork. They both work equally well. It was tasty paired with southern style fried rice and green beans.

2 small pork loins

1/4 c. hoisin sauce

1 tsp. five spice

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tbsp. soy sauce

2 Tbsp. honey

Black pepper

Combine all the ingredients in a large freezer bag, except the pork, and mix well. Refrigerate 2 - 24 hours. This is great for meal prep, you can make it the night before.

Preheat the oven to 450. Place the pork on a broiler pan. Make sure and scrap all the sauce from the bag on to the top of the pork.

Bake at 450 for 15 minutes and flip the meat. Bake another 15 minutes and flip back to the first side Bake for 5 minutes and turn the oven on broil to caramelize the sauce on top.

As a self proclaimed food nerd I've put quite a bit of effort in to my study of other cultures cuisines. What stared as simple curiosity led to an in depth search to learn more. I've been lucky enough to traveled some in my life, across the US and some stops in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

This endeavor was formalized with this blog but it started quite a long time before that. I wanted a portfolio to chronical what I was learning. I wanted to have something to show. That's the trouble with food as a hobby, you eat your creations.

If you see something you like please leave a comment! If you have any suggestions of dishes to try email me at Queen.Reddd (at) gmail.com. I would love to hear from you.